CHARLIE Dixon is back. But the question of how to fit the All-Australian key forward into a Port Adelaide attack already loaded with three talls might be left to a government official in Kent Town, at the weather bureau.
With forecasts of heavy rainfalls and north-westerly winds of increasing strength, Port Adelaide's need to be strong at ground level - an issue exposed as lacking in Saturday's 35-point loss to Geelong at Kardinia Park - could significantly influence selection for the home clash with Essendon.
This need, however, will likely not be answered by specialist forward Orazio Fantasia whose return from knee surgery was stalled at the weekend by tightness in a leg muscle.
But there are wingman Xavier Duursma, who was best-afield in the Russell Ebert tribute match against West Adelaide in the SANFL on Sunday, and defender Riley Bonner to consider again.
"There will be guys putting their hands up this week," defence coach Chad Cornes said on Monday of the pressure to earn spots in Port Adelaide's AFL line-up this weekend. "It is a longer week; we won't select the team until maybe Thursday."
And perhaps not until the Bureau of Meteorology comes up with the definitive forecast of what is to be expected on Sunday evening in Adelaide. The question of how Port Adelaide reshapes its attack with Dixon takes on a new dimension.
"If it is going to be really wet from Wednesday, I am not sure you can play four talls," said Cornes of the challenge to carry Dixon, Todd Marshall, Jeremy Finlayson and Mitch Georgiades in the same attack this weekend.
"If there is going to be 15 millimetres of rain and be pretty windy as well on Sunday that will make things tough. We will wait and see.
"Marshall, Georgaides and Finlayson have played well during the past month ... until the weekend. Some of the contest was not up to AFL level - and they are aware of that. They put their hands up and admitted that. That was the collective (not just the three talls forwards) who did not have the contest work where it needed to be.
"We are going through those reviews today and we will see what the players have to say."
First, the good news with Dixon after his three-goal haul (3.3 to be precise) in his second SANFL game in three weeks after recuperating from two rounds of ankle surgery - and having no action last week with the shutdown of State league matches for the interstate game in Perth.
"I was watching Charlie closely (on Sunday against West Adelaide) and he was moving a lot better than he had in the previous SANFL game," Cornes said. "I am pretty confident he will play."
Not so re-assuring is the news on Fantasia who, like Dixon, has not taken to the field for an AFL game this season even though he is credited with one match for sitting out the clash with North Melbourne in Hobart as the medical substitute a fortnight ago.
"Orazio, he pulled up a little bit sore from training throughout the week (so was not selected as planned for the AFL game against Geelong)," Cornes explained of Fantasia's surprising absence from the AFL 23 at the weekend. "It is nothing to do with his previous injury. I would anticipate he will need to go back to play some time in the SANFL now. I am not sure we would be able to pick him confidently by the amount of time he has missed now.
"He is running today, moving well, so there is nothing serious. He just didn't pull up the way he needed to be able to play an AFL game. But nothing serious.
"Orazio is so important to us. We love the way he plays. He just can't find that consistency with his body, so the cautious approach is the good way to go at this stage.
"(For the setbacks) Orazio is one of those guys who is always - in his life and football life - up and about. He is a great team-mate and has a really good attitude. He trains hard, no matter what is happening. He sets the right examples.
"Deep down, I am sure he is hating to miss this amount of footy, as he has over the past couple of years and his whole football career. But you would not know it by the way he conducts himself; it is a real positive."
Bonner has missed two AFL games after rolling his ankle and being substituted out of the 17-point win against the Western Bulldogs at Adelaide Oval on May 6.
"Riley has put his hand up early in the week for selection - and he is moving really well," Cornes said. "(Fellow defender) Trent McKenzie (knee) is running with him and is moving well, but we will probably see him after the mid-season bye.
"I was really impressed with the guys who travelled to Geelong and returned for a three-hour drive to Loxton on Sunday morning; they all played really significant roles in that (Russell Ebert tribute) game.
"Duursma to play the way he did ... he has put his hand up for selection after a (28-disposal) performance like that, that is for sure. We just need consistency in his game. It has been just a bit up and down with injury, availability and his own form. He has a really good attitude by wanting to be a great player - and he is heading in that direction.
"It is now about finding some consistency in his form."
Port Adelaide's aim is to advance its win-loss count to 5-6 at the halfway mark of the home-and-away season. The ledger has not been in the red at the turn since 2015 when Port Adelaide was 5-6 after 11 rounds.
After ignoring the magnitude of the 0-5 start to the season to concentrate on "the moment", Port Adelaide today might have to deal with the need to quickly put its win-loss ledger in the positive.
"That was a little disappointing at the weekend; there was such importance placed on getting things back to level on the ledger (with 5-5)," Cornes said. "Everything was leading in the right direction. Not only in the way we played (the first half), but also the way we trained, the boys' attitude, the way they were learning during the week.
"At half-time we were in a great position to get what we needed out of that game. The drop off from there at the contest was disappointing - and something we do need to get right if we are going to go anywhere this year."
Port Adelaide held a one-point lead on Geelong on Saturday when it showed no unease with the peculiar skinny nature of Kardinia Park and had taken Geelong out of its preferred game, in particular in linking up lines with a high count of marks.
But after half-time, the biggest barometer of Port Adelaide's performance - contested ball - moved heavily to Geelong's favour and translated to the scoreboard.
"Ken went through the actual dimensions (of Kardinia Park) right before the game to get in the boys' heads that the ground isn't too dissimilar to other grounds we play on," Cornes said. "It was just the way we played the game. The contest was not up to scratch.
"They were a lot harder, tougher around the ball. We lost too many battles all over the ground, particularly forward of the ball - and it kept bouncing out of (attack) too easily, which makes any game hard to defend. Trying to defend a team like that on that oval with the crowd behind them when your contest work is not where it needs to be ... it makes the game really hard to get back in your favour."
Considering contested numbers are such a true indicator in the AFL and with Port Adelaide in particular, the weekend's work forces another heavy focus on the ground ball and stoppage work. Geelong won this key performance indicator 150-121.
"It is always a focus for us, the contest," Cornes said. "Every team realises that if your contest is not where it needs to be you will not give yourself a chance to win. It is not a one-off (issue); we focus on it weekly and we will heighten the awareness of that today during meetings and practise it really hard during the week."
Cornes paid credit to captain Tom Jonas, who came out of COVID isolation late in the lead-up to the match at Kardinia Park and set a clear example on how the team should have approached the work at ground level.
"Tom was really impressive ... he did not miss a beat," Cornes said. "He led the way with his contest work, both in the air and on the ground. There was one in particular against (Geelong key forward) Tom Hawkins - I just love it when Tom sets the tone like that. We know how tough he is and what a great leader he is. The boys do feed off that, so I was pretty impressed with his return.
"(Fellow defender) Tom Clurey also was outstanding against a quality opponent in Tom Hawkins. But Tom to hold his own against such a big body and crafty forward as Hawkins was a real positive for him. His return to the team (since being sidelined with knee surgery) has been a real positive."
Port Adelaide plays the second part of the Sir Doug Nicholls Round at home at Adelaide Oval against Essendon in Sunday twilight, a match-up of two teams that carried big expectations into Season 2022.
Essendon has a 2-8 win-loss record this year with just one win (against Hawthorn) in the past six matches.
